After a gap of 43 years, the capital city has got the Shimla Development Plan (SDP) that aims at  developing four satellite towns- Fagu,  Chamiyana, Ghandal , Naldehra and few other hubs to check congestion in the old city centre.

 SDP  seeks to develop hassle-free ropeways, skybridges, walking trails and heritage walks and other non-motorised transport system and heli-taxi service in the core city to rope in more tourists in its operational area that spans  22,450 hectare.  But by all means, SDP is a classic case of “first develop, then plan” as the city has already proliferated into an unmanageable maze of concrete buildings from all sides.

The city is not a concrete entity, it is an organic ecosystem, which talks, breaths and grows from stage to stage. But will the proposed satellite townships and hubs consider this as an ecosystem or SDP will end up as yet another plan, with little happening on the ground?    

But certainly, all is not lost. There is vast scope for making the city vibrant improving the ease of living for its over 2.43 lakh residents, who still jostle in overcrowded buses and private vehicles, which are bumper-to-bumper on the narrow city roads. The citizens walk in scare on the narrow footpaths, streets and bylanes, which are choked with cars and other vehicles.

The city still faces trash crisis as most of its arteries-streams and nallahs – are remain chocked with trash and junk. Urban Development Minister and Shimla long time legislator Suresh Bhardwaj termed the SDP as historic after he released its draft and put it in public domain, seeking suggestions and objections from the residents. SDP is GIS-based plan that seeks to redeem most of the woes- parking, congestion, transport,  construction, waste management and other key issues- in the city and its peripheries, Bhardwaj told media.

SDP seeks to give relief to the plot owners in the green area of the core city where the constriction is banned by the National Green Tribunal(NGT). But the plot owners will be allowed to build houses where no green tree has grown.

Unfazed by the NGT order that has restricted or banned constriction in the core area, SDP seeks to give relief to the residents by allowing 2 and half floors in the core area(old city).The house owners in non-core area can add an additional floor.  

Commercial use has been enhanced from 0.41 to 0.53 per cent, while residential land use is increased from 5.51 per cent to 12.15 per cent and mixed land use for other activities is increased from three to 9.36 per cent under the SDP.  

To give fillip to industrial and economic activity, SDP seeks to increase the area under industrial use from 0.15 per cent to 0.24 per cent, while the area under transportation, communication is increased to 6.27 per cent from 4.81 per cent. The area under public and  semi-public use is proposed to be increased to 1.15 to 1.39 per cent.   The SDP stipulates an additional area requirement of at rate of 120 person per hectare.  This means the city needs 2789 hectare area given the pace of urbanisation and development. The existing developed area under various land uses is just 2406 hectare.  

But like Rome, Shimla is not built in a day. The city remained summer capital of the erstwhile  British Raj for long 135 years and its Core areas, still bear the old world charm and look, while hundreds of its old buildings lie in rack and ruins due to property disputes and other legal matters. There are dozens few which are protected as heritage buildings- CTO, DC office, AG office, state Library, Viceregal lodge, Raj Bhawan, old Secretariate, Railways, Gaiety Theatre, Army Training  and others- which still have maintained their old world charm giving the city its cosmopolitan look. The big question is what kind of look SDP intends to give to the four proposed new satellite  towns?

But the old city core has been submerged in the ever- proliferating maze of concrete buildings over a long period of time as neither Town and country planning department(TCP) had any concrete plan under its 1979 development plan to regulate the construction nor the Shimla Municipal corporation, one of the oldest civic body in India, has a political will to enforce law and planning to bridle the construction activity  in the city over the last 40 years.  

But the main and moot question is: Will SDP regularise the thousands of old buildings in the new areas which were merged in the Shimla municipal corporation?. SDP does not answer this question. If it does, what will be norms and composition fees. The residents demand one time settlement policy with reasonable fee. But this burning question is outside the ambit of SDP, say the town planners. "Retention policy is different issue and will address on different platform", says Dr Kimmi Sood, a BJP councilor, who wants to adopt a "Bhutan  town like and nature trails and  look in her ward. 

Second, what will be the fate of farmers who are practicing animal husbandry and agriculture in the proposed satellite towns and hubs. How the SDP will integrate them and make them as stakeholders in the new plan, ask the farmers.  

After a long last,  SDP has been notified by the Town and Country Planning Department today. As far as the city core area and other wards are concerned, there is nothing much left to be planned as far as construction and architecture  of houses is concerned”, said a former town planner.

But yes, SDP seeks to address  other issues and regulate development for next 40 years as plan aims at when the city population is expected to  be over 6.25 lakh by 2041.  

But even beyond Fagu, the entire Fagu-Theog-Nanda Devi and Chaila belt have developed into a ribboned concrete corridor. So is the case with the Tara Devi-Shoghi and Heera Nagar-Ghanati corridor that need to be brought into the regional development plan for planned development. Much will depend how the TCP, Urban development department and Shimla municipal corporation put the SDP in place and land it on the ground.         

    Bhardwaj said the citizens are welcome to give suggestions and objections to the TCP to make SDP vibrant.